Sometimes I plan my postings ahead of time and they magically post at 8 am each morning… other times, I have to “wing it” on the same day, like today. And if I truly wrote about emotions today, they would be negative: frustrated (“frustré(e)”), angry (“en colère”), upset (“fâché(e)” or “contrarié(e)”) … so I will not.
But I can tell you the reason for these feelings, a total…
// manque de bol/ manque de pot // expression, masculine noun: tough luck, (literally:) lack of luck
Image by Joe Shlabotnik via Flickr
That is right… I got up 15 minutes late, I did not realize I was speeding on a small street posting 35 mph speed limit in my town and got a ticket, then I mixed up my medical appointment time, which caused me to arrive to work late. Although I called in, I got an “occurrence” (like a flag in football, basically!). Most people, including my husband, will disagree with my assessment of the situation as tough luck; but I really did not do any of this on purpose, and feel like a victim of (somewhat self-inflicted) negative circumstances. BUT… crap happens, to all of us… c’est la vie!
Image via Wikipedia
Antonym: // coup de bol / avoir du bol // expression, masculine noun: (to get) lucky
Usage:
Elle a manqué son train de moins d’une minute, quel manque de bol ! // She missed her train by less than a minute, tough luck!
Il manque vraiment de pot : c’est la deuxième fois qu’il reçoit une visite de l’inspecteur ! // He has really bad luck: it is the second time he is being inspected!
Elle se retrouve à chaque fois en tête de liste d’attente, elle a vraiment du bol celle-là ! // She gets at the top of the waiting list every time, she is really lucky this one!
Quel coup de bol : un numéro gagnant au Lotto ! // Now that is a stroke of luck: a winning number at the lottery!
Pour aujourd’hui, je vous souhaite à tous, chers lecteurs, chères lectrices, beaucoup de bol !!
PS: I had to quote my husband: as predicteed, following the bad news of my encounter with the police, he said the mot du bonjour should have been « bêtise » (stupidity, foolishness)… Maybe next time! 😉
I love this one. It reminds me of another great « bol » expression I learned from a reading one of those huge ads in the Paris Métro: « ras le bol » … « fed up »/ »up to here » (with hand gestures of course).
Absolutely! I thought about adding it in, but it is too good of an expression to pass up as a « mot du bonjour ». I will use it next time I need to rant, it will be a « ras le bol » post. Happy Friday!